Wal-Mart In The News
ShareTwo news stories this a.m. make mention of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's first public remarks on Wal-Mart yesterday. Newsday suggests that Clinton pushed Wal-Mart to shoulder more of its employees health care burden.
Still, Newsday correctly notes: "Clinton never explicitly endorsed Maryland's law during her speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, but she later told reporters, 'I certainly understand their need to try to take some action because the burden is getting shifted onto the taxpayer.'"
More: "Asked if she had advocated better benefits while serving as a board member with Arkansas-based Wal-Mart from 1986 to 1991, Clinton replied, 'Well, you know, I, that was a long time ago ... have to remember,' adding that 'obviously I believe every company should" contribute to benefit plans.'"
To our ears, the more significant Wal-Mart related political news is what outgoing fed chair Alan Greenspan wrote in a letter to a GOPer in Congress.
Greenspan urged Congress to review an exemption to federal banking laws that allow so-called "industrial banks" to escape regulatory scrutiny.
As Reuters notes: " His comments come as regulators review a controversial application by Wal-Mart to open an industrial bank primarily to handle electronic payment processing. That bid has drawn concern from some in Congress, and from some financial institutions, that the world's largest retailer could use its bank as a base to offer a much wider array of services."
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